Sundays are a beginning and an end: the end of the weekend, the start of a new week. After several days of being out in the world and feeling the influence of so much input I love to make Sundays a day to reset; to exist only in the world that includes our home and family.

I wrote about the concept of the Sunday home that I love so much years ago (look how little the boys are!) and I still think about creating a Sunday home. I find it comforting to look for the rituals in our life and think about what they mean. Our Sunday rituals are all about being together as a family and resetting our environment and ourselves for the week ahead. Many of the rituals I wrote about in my previous post still stand but I've added a few more to the list. We have bandwidth for more now!

To me an ideal Sunday includes:

+ Sunday paper and pancakes. In which we make pancakes (blueberries for me, please), drink coffee or tea, and leisurely read the New York Times while the boys play. We've fallen out of this routine lately, although still often make pancakes, and I'd love to start buying the paper again.

+ Deep cleaning including sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming the floors; cleaning the bathrooms; laundry. Sometimes I spread these out during the week but sometimes I have energy and we get it all done. I do love to end Sundays with a completely clean house and all the laundry cleaned, folded, and put away. I think I sleep better in a clean house!

+ Not going anywhere in the car with the exception of going to buy a newspaper. But going on bike rides is definitely okay.

+ Making a soup for dinner. I love to spend an hour or so on Sunday cooking and a bubbling soup is so comforting. I always plan to have soup for dinner on Sundays with leftover soup for dinner Mondays. Plus we have enough for a couple weekday lunches as well.

+ Making a batch of muffins or other healthy snack to enjoy during the week.+ Burning a seasonal candle.

+ Having time during the day to write or read.

+ Instituting rest time for the boys for at least an hour which can be a perfect time to fit in that reading or writing. Or sometimes a nap for me!

+ Spending some time looking at my calendar for the week ahead and planning my days.

+ Little to no time spent on my phone. Occasionally I'll post to Instagram on a Sunday but then I try to resist scrolling. Sometimes I like to keep my phone on airplane mode for the day so it doesn't tempt me.

+ Fully cleaning the kitchen after dinner including putting away all dishes and wiping counters down with a Mrs. Meyer's seasonal counter spray.

+ Giving the boys baths and cutting their nails. Bonus: I've found that while they're in the bath can be a great time to clean the bathroom.

+ Doing my full evening skin care routine including toner, exfoliator, face mask (I especially love this one), and moisturizer.

+ Stretching and then reading before bed.

+ Going to sleep before 9 p.m. And sometimes even before 8 p.m.!

Of course not everything on my list happens every Sunday. But I like thinking about what Sunday rituals leave me feeling rested and fulfilled so that I can be more intentional about making them happen.

What does your ideal Sunday look like?